Davion Downey once again came through for Warren East when they needed him the most, blasting a two-run home run in extra innings to give the Raiders a 2-0 win over Greenwood.
Downey’s ninth homer of the season could not have come at a better time for East, as their eight hits on the day did not come easily.
“(Greenwood’s) lefties have done a really good job at keeping us off-balance,” said Warren East coach Wes Sanford. “They’re doing good at putting us in a spot where we have to be disciplined to hit it, and we haven’t really been disciplined the last couple of days.”
The defense of both teams ruled the evening, as players found themselves stranded in scoring position on multiple occasions.
The wind was blowing fairly strong during the game for the second day in a row, but it did not cause the result the Sanford was expecting.
“With the wind blowing the way it’s been the last few days, both games should have been really offensive minded,” Sanford stated. “It’s been more of a pitching duel instead because of batters not being disciplined.”
Greenwood pitcher Tyler Cook, who pitched a complete game, gave the Raiders fits all evening even though only striking out two batters and surrendering eight hits.
“It took a lot of time to get used to some of the left-handed pitching,” said Downey, who went 1-4 from the plate on the evening. “He wasn’t very hard to hit, he was just getting too quick with things and not changing it up.”
While Downey struggled from plate, excluding the home run, he picked up the slack by striking out seven batters in seven shutout innings on the mound.
The Gators (14-13) provided the first real scoring threat of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting runners on second and third before Downey retired Alex Locke swinging.
This would be one of only two instances in which runners from either team would get to third base.
Matt Mellencamp started off the top of the eighth inning for the Raiders (17-6) with a single on a line drive. Dakota Basham came in as a courtesy runner for Mellencamp.
Moments later, Downey crushed a 2-0 pitch over the right field wall to give East a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Greenwood threatened by getting runners on second and third on a hit by Connor Cline and a walk of Cook, but Parker Williams grounded out to shortstop to give the Raiders the narrow victory.
Of the eight hits for East, three of them came from Ty Stringfield. The Gators mustered only three hits on the afternoon from Adam Schneller, Cline, and Addison Harris.
The two teams will meet in the series tiebreaker at Corey Hart Ballpark on the campus of Greenwood High School at 5:30 p.m.
